Photos: Guided by Voices at the Roxy

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Guided by Voices at the Roxy (Photo by Ashly Covington)
Guided by Voices at the Roxy (Photo by Ashly Covington)

You want a stinkin’ “career-spanning set?” You want to see a 59-year-old frontman grab big air? You want your 32 bucks worth? Guided by Voices’ sweaty, boozy night Saturday at the Roxy was the place for you. With the leg-kicking, hip-shaking, mic-twirling and thoroughly footloose Robert Pollard as the straw that stirred the drink, GBV satiated the faithful with a long set. (How long? GBV may or may not have played all fifty-two of the tracks on the setlist pictured below.) Backed by a tight lineup that included guitarists Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr., bassist Mark Shue and drummer Kevin March, Pollard was in vintage form, breaking only occasionally to marvel at how he was once a schoolteacher and now got to do this onstage. As he did at Coachella, Pollard shared high-fives, hand-clasps and beer and tequila with the faithful in the front row as the quintet played songs from many of the 22 GBV albums, including the new double-LP “August By Cake.” There were sing-alongs all night, the biggest for “I Am a Tree,” “Glad Girls” and “I Am a Scientist.”

Prism Tats opened the show.

Photos by Ashly Covington